DoorDash Said to Lead Round in Flink at $2.1 Billion Value
DoorDash Said to Lead Round in Flink at $2.1 Billion Valuation
(Bloomberg) -- DoorDash Inc. is leading a fundraising round in Flink SE with a pre-money valuation for the Berlin-based grocery delivery startup of $2.1 billion, people familiar with the matter said.
Flink is raising several hundred million dollars in the round from DoorDash and existing investors, and is set to announce the results in the coming weeks, the people said, asking not to be identified because the investment isn’t yet public.
Flink promises customers in its European markets groceries within 10 minutes, part of a new generation of food-delivery companies that’s sprung up in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic when users became accustomed to ordering food and essentials online. The company operates in cities in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and France.
Representatives for Flink and DoorDash declined to comment.
DoorDash, the biggest food-delivery company in the U.S., has been hunting for targets in Europe with a focus on grocery deliveries and businesses in Germany and the U.K., people familiar with the matter said previously. The San Francisco-based company partnered last year with U.S. chains including Meijer and Wegmans to offer grocery delivery through its app for the first time. It’s also advertising job openings in Germany.
DoorDash had previously held talks on an investment with Flink’s rival, Gorillas Technologies GmbH, which fell through after disagreements over expansion plans, Bloomberg News reported in August.
With the new investment round, Flink will be one of the better-funded grocery delivery startups. The company previously announced a fundraising round of $240 million in June from investors including Prosus NV, Bond and Mubadala Capital, and is also backed by Cherry Ventures, Northzone and Target Global.
Flink has attracted attention from U.S. suitors before. Amazon.com Inc. and Gopuff, a U.S. delivery app backed by SoftBank, previously explored competing takeover bids for the German startup Flink, people familiar with the matter said earlier this year.
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